Your most embarrassing date moment?Probably my most awkward date moment was my first year of college. Back then I was still extremely shy around girls I liked and hadn't even kissed anybody. Girls could be *so* obvious with me, and I'd still have no clue they liked me back. Case in point: I'd had a crush on Sara for most the year. She knew I liked her... I'd left a rose and a card in front of her door on Valentine's Day and ran away, but I was still too nervous to ask her out. One night she came over to my dorm room to watch a movie. We're lying on my tiny dorm bed cuddling, but I was, (yet again) too scared to make a move. For the entire movie. Once my thirty minutes of nervous bliss turned to complete awkwardness, she eventually just got up and left.

What career accomplishment are you most proud of?Inspiring countless students to defy what statistics say about them: to become lovers of learning, and to become empathetic citizens who reflect on their actions and change the world on a daily basis. Nothing's more satisfying than receiving emails and letters years later thanking me for the fact that they still love reading or writing or history because of my class.